


QMS 11 4

by Deacon_Heller



Series: Quantum Mirror Series [15]
Category: Stargate - All Media Types, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:47:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26936875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deacon_Heller/pseuds/Deacon_Heller
Summary: The dormant organism is awake and devouring. SG10 has to secure the ship and keep the organism from escaping to the gate, and using it as a stepping stone to the rest of the galaxy. Tensions rise faster than the body count as SG10 struggles determine who is still human before everyone kills each other.
Series: Quantum Mirror Series [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965412





	QMS 11 4

Ten minutes later Ford, and the rest of Ten stood waiting by the gate for the two more people to arrive. When the second android Dr. Jackson and Dr. Carter arrived carrying flame throwers the gate lit up and the vortex exploded outwards. Seconds later they were on the other side of the gate where Ford gave Dr. Carter orders to guards the gate. 

Ford spoke quickly with Colonel Cummings before he waved everyone after him towards the ship. "Cummings says everyone is accounted for and he hasn't seen anything unusual."

They quickly reached the ship where Ford left the second Jackson at the door. "No one leaves this ship, for any reason, until we clear it."

"You weren't due back for six more hours, what's going on?" Lang asked, looking at his watch, as Ford and the rest of Ten appeared on the bridge. 

"Captain, you need to recall everyone in the ship to the bridge immediately," Ford answered. 

"Fantastic," Lang snarled, as he tapped his ear piece. "I need everyone to drop what you're doing and report to the bridge immediately."

"Has anyone left the ship?" Ford asked Lang.

"Dr. Werner."

Ford looked around at the bridge of the ship absently as he tapped his earpiece and radioed back to the camp. "Colonel Cummings, has Dr. Werner arrived at the camp yet?"

"Yeah, he's here. He showed up about ten minutes after your team passed through," Cummings replied. 

"Is he there now, right in front of you?" Ford demanded.

"No, I'm not looking at him, right now."

"Well?"

"What? You seriously want me to go and look at him?" 

"You have something better to do than your job, Cummings?" Ford snapped. "Go and get eyes on the Xeno-biologist that may have just infected himself with an alien organism and exposed the entire camp."

"Jackass," Cummings mumbled after tapping his ear piece to turn it off. He walked over to the tent Werner and Thompson shared with the chemist, Moreno. He lifted the flap and looked inside. Broken glass littered the floor in front of the metal table with an over turned microscope and a spilled energy drink. Cummings sighed and scowled. "Son of a Bitch!"

Cummings tapped his ear piece. "Ford, there are, in the xenobiology tent, indications that may be construed as signs of a struggle."

"Damn it Cummings, is he there or not?"

"...No," Cumming ground out between his teeth as he stepped out of the tent, looking around the camp. "Seventeen, this is Cummings, spread out and locate Werner immediately."

"Respond as soon as you find him," Ford snapped over the comes. "Now get everyone in the same place so you can keep an eye on them."

"What's that Ford, I can't...you're breaking...I'm losing your...," Then Cummings tapped the ear piece and turned it off. "There's no evidence Werner is infected. That clumsy idiot could have just tripped and fell on his table."

"Well?" Colt asked Ford.

"I think Seventeen is in serious trouble," Ford shook his head. 

"We have reason to believe that the alien we thought was the pilot of this craft is actually the organism they were transporting impersonating it," Ford explained.

Lang sighed. 

A Carter emerged through the door to the bridge a moment later. 

"Dr. Carter, what were you working on?" Ford asked. 

"I was studying the pilot with Dr. Werner and Dr. Thompson. I thought Dr. Thompson was right behind me," She answered. 

"Werner returned to the camp but then Cummings lost him, and he thinks there's signs that Werner was compromised," Ford told her. 

"He had samples from the smeared hand print on the stasis unit holding the Pilot," Carter said. "What's going on?"

"We'll tell you all when everyone is on the bridge," Ford said. 

"There might be an organic replicator loose in this ship, and another one at the base camp," Jackson said calmly.

"Seriously Jac-bot?" Ford snapped at Jackson.

"How hard was that?" Jackson responded. "I summed the whole situation up in one sentence."

"Jac-bot?" Carter asked Jackson.

"Don't ask. And don't talk directly to that one," Jackson said, pointing at Colt. "Or you'll end up as a Sam-bot."

"Sam-bot. Why didn't you think of that?" Natock asked Colt.

"Too derivative, but I think Jac-bot is really starting to fit into the team," Colt smiled at Natock. 

Carter glanced at Jackson, but he just looked at the floor and shook his head. Five minutes later everyone on the ship was accounted for except for Thompson, the xenobiologist that had been working with Carter.

"Dr. Thompson, this is Sergeant Ford, please respond," Ford waited a few seconds. "Dr. Thompson come in," Ford waited again. "Dr. Thompson if you can hear me please make your way to the bridge immediately."

Ford tapped his ear piece and turned it off. "Colt and Natock go with Dr. Carter and locate Thompson." 

Colt and Natock nodded as they headed out into the hall with Carter right behind them. 

"Check on the pilot while you're there, make sure Thompson didn't wake up sleeping beauty," Ford added as they left.

"So...what's going on?" Haber asked. 

"Yeah," Ford began. "As Jac-bot mentioned we may have an alien organism on the loose."

"Is it hostile?" Lang asked.

"Oh yeah," Ford nodded. "These guys made an organism that can mimic any living creature it consumes, and they programmed it to consume and replicate as much as possible."

"So, we're just what, food?" Haber asked. 

"Pretty much, yeah," Ford nodded. "Long story short, these guys were at war with the Goa'uld, and they made this organism to take them over, but..."

"But like all evil alien experiments, it got out of hand," Jackson said.

"Seriously?" Dalen asked.

"Well, Jac-bot isn't wrong. From what we figured out in the ships logs this crew was taking three samples of the organism back to a lab where they could fix whatever went wrong when one of the samples escaped, and..."

"Massacred the crew," Jackson finished.

"So is it loose now?" Lang asked. 

"We don't know for sure," Ford said, "That's what we're trying to find out."

"And if it is?" Haber asked. 

"Pew, Pew!" Ford made a gun gesture with his right hand. "Until we know for sure one way or the other no one leaves this ship. We have to keep the situation contained. Dr. Jackson, did you hear that?" Ford said on his ear piece. Jac-bot looked at Ford, but Ford shook his head at him.

"Are you talking to me?" The Jackson stationed by the door of the ship asked.

"Yes," Ford answered. "Everyone on the ship has heard and understood the order, except Dr. Thompson, and we're trying to locate him right now."

"Ford, we have a bad news, horrible news situation," Colt broke in on the radio. 

"What is it?" 

"We can't find Thompson, and sleeping beauty is in the wind," Colt sighed. 

"Of course he is," Ford growled. "Is there any sign that he broke out and attacked Thompson?"

"I mean...I don't see any Thompson-shaped piles of alien scat..."

"Well, at least there's that. Ok people, we need to locate that pilot," Ford said, rubbing his left temple, the spot where he always got a shooting pain under very specific stress. Ford called it the Colt button.

"What, you want to split up now?" Haber asked. "With a possible hostile alien organism on the loose." 

"Why aren't we leaving the ship?" Dr. Dalen asked.

"One or more of you may be infected with the organism that was being transported in this ship," Ford replied. "Until we know for sure that no one is infected we are not leaving the ship. There is a Jackson at the door with standing orders to kill anyone that tries to force their way out of the ship, so do not try."

"This is insane!" Dr. Carrel protested. "You can't expect us to stay here if someone is infected." 

"That's exactly what we're going to do, Dr. Carrel," Ford declared. "The crew of this ship was transporting samples of an alien organism that is capable of mimicking any other life form, and gaining their knowledge." 

"So, what, are we looking for copies of someone walking around?" Haber gave the Carters and odd glance. "Well if I see myself in the hallway I'll let you know." 

"It consumes BEFORE, it mimics!" Colt corrected, as he walked into the bridge ahead of Natock and Carter. "If this thing gets you, it's going to eat you. We're not going to see any extra sets of people walking around. I mean, other than her," Colt conceded, pointing to Carter. "And, him...too," Colt pointed at Jackson. 

"Now we search the ship in groups looking for the pilot," Ford ordered. "There is going to be a robot...wait, what did we decide on; robot, bot, android, or droid?" Ford asked, looking at Colt.

"Bot," Colt nodded.

"Hmm? I like droid better. There's going to be a droid with each group. We have reason to believe this organism can't mimic inorganic materials, like glass or metal."

"Bot? Droid? Do we have any say in this?" Carter asked Ford. Jackson just looked at the floor and shook his head.

"You want us to split up and go chasing an alien around the ship?" Haber asked in disbelief. 

"The droids will keep us honest," Colt declared.

"I've seen this movie before, and splitting up never goes well. We should all just go outside and leave, or blow up the ship," Haber said. 

"We need to track him down, now. Best case scenario he's a scared and pissed off pilot that might be looking for his weapons locker right now. Worst case scenario it's the organism mimicking the original pilot and it knows about every other way out of this ship. We can't let it find another way out, and get to the gate."

"Best case scenario it's armed, and you want to approach it?" Haber demanded.

"Before I get hit with a disintegration ray, I want to try to talk to the alien," Ford snapped. "Or chirp, or click, or whatever the hell an alien does."

"What does an alien do, Natock?" Colt asked the Jaffa beside him. Natock simply glared at him. "Natock says that aliens scowl." 

"Then they'll have a lot to talk about," Jackson added. 

"Nice," Natock commented to Colt. Carter just looked back and forth between them. 

"Paging Dr. Jackson to the burn unit," Colt grinned at Jackson.

"Colt, Natock, and Dr. Carter check the escape pod and the cargo chambers," Ford ordered, pointing at one of the Carters, and then he turned to the other Carter. "Dr. Carter, you're with Captain Lang and his team. Check the engine room. Bjornson go with them. Jackson, Dalen, Haber, Carrel and I will search the rest of the ship. 

Captain Lang walked through the doorway to the engine room first, followed by Carter and the rest of twenty seven. "Robinson, Lewis, check the...the...Dr. Carter what is that over there?"

"I think those are fuel tanks," Carter answered.

"Check the fuel tanks, and try not to shoot them," Lang said, pointing left. "Lyspin, Erusha, check that...jagged metal hedge maze. Try not to get lost," The two armored Jaffa lumbered to the right, their heavy boots clanking on the deck.

"I think those are mechanical controls," Carter corrected him. 

"Dr. Carter, you and I will search, what would you call that?" Lang asked, pointing at the slowly turning spiked sphere in the center of the massive chamber.

"Spinning ball thing," Carter answered. 

"That PHD really makes you hard to understand sometimes," Lang shrugged.

"This ship is unlike anything we've ever seen," Carter said, as she slowly swung her flame thrower from side to side.

"There's got to be an alien joke in there somewhere. Lewis, you see anything over there?" Lang shouted. 

"No. We haven't..." Lewis stopped talking when he was cut off by the sound of plasma blasts.

Lang and Carter started running towards Robinson and Lewis when they heard the sound of staff blasts coming from Lyspin and Erusha.

"Yup, he's gone," Colt said, glancing down at the open stasis pod. He took a step back and looked around the escape pod for clues. 

"Now we need to figure out where he went," Carter said.

"Natock?" Colt asked. 

"On it," Natock answered. The Jaffa crouched beside the pod and began examining the deck beside it. 

"This guy's like an alien blood hound," Colt said, casually to Carter. 

Natock leaned into the stasis pod, inhaling through his nose. Then he stood up and walked to the door way, sniffing the air. He sniffed left, and then right. Natock pointed to the right. "This way."

"How awesome is this guy?" Colt grinned at Carter as he walked after Natock. 

Carter's left eyebrow shot up as she tilted her head, and then shook it before following Colt out into the hall. 

"Ford, this is Lang, I got separated from my team," Ford's earpiece crackled. 

"Seriously? How...? Never mind, where are you?" Ford snapped.

"I'm in the engine room,"

"Stay there, we're coming to you," Ford waved Jackson after him. They reached the corridor that ended in the massive double doors of the engine room and slowed their pace, lifting their weapons. 

When they were twenty feet from the heavy doors they slid open, Lang stood there, his rifle in his hands, pointed at the ground just ahead of Ford. Robinsons stood a few yards behind him.

"What happened to your team?" Ford asked.

"I sent Erusha and Lyspin to examine the north end of the room while Lewis and Robinson went South." Lang explained as he backed into the engine room, leading Ford to the destroyed Carter android. 

"So, what happened to Carter?" Ford asked, looking around Lang. 

"She was struck during cross fire," Lang said. 

"Crossfire?" Ford growled, "What the hell happened? Where's your team?"

"Robinson and Lewis started firing first. They called out contact with the pilot, and that he was charging them," Lang explained. "A second later Erusha and Lyspin started firing too. I ducked the crossfire, but Carter wasn't as lucky." 

"Is Jackson still with you?" Lewis called out from a doorway down the corridor. Ford backed away from the doors of engineering, raised his rifle and aimed it towards Lewis. The large hallway left Ford feeling very exposed.

"I'm right here," Jackson called out without looking away from Lang.

"Then you haven't been infected yet," Lewis shouted 

"Lewis, what happened?" Ford asked. 

"We entered the engine room and Captain Lang ordered me and Robinson to check the fuel tanks and then he sent Erusha and Lyspin to check...I don't know, control stations or something. The pilot came at us with a weapon and we returned fire. Robinson and I got separated, and I lost him."

"Robinson, is that true?" Ford asked. 

"Yeah. We got separated when it came at us," Robinson agreed. 

"Ok, so who blasted Carter in the face?" Ford shouted. He looked back at Lang, but the Army Captain shook his head. "Lewis, did you maybe, accidentally, shoot Carter three or four times?"

"No!" Lewis shout as he poked his head around the corner. "And neither did Erusha or Lyspin."

"Are they with you?" Ford called out.

"Yes. After I got separated from Robinson I doubled back and found them."

"Jackson," Ford said casually. Jackson instantly raised his rifle and aimed it at Lang. Robinson and Lang responded by pointing their rifles at Natock. 

"Ford, what are you doing?" Lang snapped. 

"Jackson, keep them there," Ford said, as he raised his rifle, and started down the hall towards Lewis. "What I need now is for you, Erusha and Lyspin to hand over your weapons until we can figure out who is still who."

"I'm not handing over my weapon," Snapped Lewis. "For all I know, Captain Lang and Robinson are infected."

"He's right Lewis, you need to disarm," Lang called down the hall from the doorway of engineering. 

"So do you," Ford called over his shoulder to Lang. "You and Robinson."

"We're not disarming," Lang said, as he tightened his grip on his rifle. "They're infected, not us."

A gasp from behind Ford caused him to turn his head and glance back. Colt and Natock stood behind a shocked Dr. Carter. She stared down the hall at the wreckage of her dead twin. Colt and Natock looked at Ford and Jackson. Natock stepped out into the hall and aimed his rifle at Lang. Colt stepped out and aimed his rifle at Lewis. Colt glanced over his shoulder at the destroyed android. 

"Oh, what the hell? Who shot a Carter? That's like killing a unicorn!" Colt complained.

"Which one is it?" Natock asked. 

"We don't know yet," Jackson said, as he kept watching Lang and Robinson. "Captain Lang please just lay down your rifle and step back from it."

"I told you, no. It's Lewis and the Jaffa. They're infected," Lang shouted. "Tell this android to lower its rifle or I'm going to blow it to hell." 

"Captain Lang, please stay cal..." Jackson began.

"Lang drop your rifle!" Lewis screamed across the hall.

"Lewis I am ordering you to lower your rifle immediately," Ford said, as his finger tightened on the trigger. Everyone began shouting at once, and Ford knew where the situation was going. He carefully crept to his right until his shoulder touched the wall. He stepped forward until he was just behind one of the support ribs that lined the hallway. It was as much cover as he could get. 

The first shot was a Zat gun. It came from somewhere behind Ford. After that everyone opened fire at once. Ford dropped into a crouch just as a plasma blast from behind hit the wall over his head. Lewis fired over Ford initially, but two bullets tore chips from the wall beside Lewis and he turned his fire on Ford. 

Lewis emptied his magazine and switched to plasma, firing three plasma bursts at Ford before the Marine finally pulled the trigger and put two rounds into Lewis's face. His knees buckled and he fell limply backward. Ford popped up and sprinted down the hallway towards Lewis. When he reached the end of the hall Ford rounded the corner and aimed his rifle into the other hall, but he saw no one. Lewis had been alone. He crept up and kicked Lewis's rifle away and then stepped back. 

Ford turned and aimed his rifle back towards Lang and Robinson. A plasma blast streaked past Ford's face, he winced away into the wall, and fired towards Robinson. Ford missed him, but Carter hit him with the Zat gun she was carrying. 

"Is anyone hit?" Ford called out. "Colt, Natock?"

"No," Colt said. 

"I am uninjured," Natock commented. 

"Yeah, I'm fine too," Jackson glared at Ford. 

"No one hit the Jac-bot today," Colt grinned. "So who is infected?"

"That's a good questi..." Ford began. A noise behind him caught his attention. Ford turned to see Lewis's body begin twitching. Ford turned and aimed his rifle down at the body. The uniform began to twitch and stretch as something underneath it skittered over the skin of the dead soldier. Then fleshy spikes pierced the uniform and began to grow upward. Lewis's body began to push upward from the ground as five jointed stalks shoved their way out of his back.

Ford flipped the switch on his fire selector and began raining plasma blasts down on the creature. A second later Colt and Natock joined in. The creature skittered down the corridor away from Ford and the plasma fire, and disappeared around a corner. Colt and Natock sprinted up beside Ford, rifles aimed down the hall after the creature.

"Is it dead? Please tell me it's dead," Colt said.

"Yeah, it's dead and it just walked away to go bury itself," Ford scowled. 

"So is Lang, Dalen, and Carrel," Carter said. 

"What are your orders?" Natock asked. 

"Disarm and secure him," Ford pointed to Robinson, "But be careful...actually, Jackson secure him."

"Right," Jackson muttered as he pulled his flame thrower to the side and crouched down beside the unconscious Robinson. Jackson unhooked his rifles and handed it off to Natock. Then he took Robinson's Zat gun and explosives, and zip tied his hands behind his back. "He's secure."

"Keep your distance, in case he explodes into tentacles or something," Ford said, as he walked back towards Jackson. He glanced down at Lang. The Captain took a plasma blast to the chest just below his throat. He glanced to his right at the scientists, both dead from bullets to the torso. They weren't clean hits, Ford guessed they took stray fire that was meant for Carter.

Bjornson and Haber were still standing in the doorway, shaken and staring at the bodies of their fallen colleagues. Ford took the Zat gun that Jackson had taken from Robinson and handed it to Bjornson. Then Ford took his own Zat gun and handed it to Haber. "You two need to be armed now. Remember; one stuns, two kills."

"I don't know how to use this," Bjornson replied. 

"It's point an shoot. Easy-peasy," Colt said. 

"Carter, take Robinson, Bjornson, and Haber to the bridge and secure it. We need to destroy that creature," Ford said.

"What of Erusha and Lyspin?" Natock asked. As they walked through the hall towards the bridge.

"We have to destroy the creature before we can search for them," Ford told Natock. "Now, let's g..."

Ford was cut off in mid sentence by a deep vibrating hum that came from the lower levels of the ship. They all stopped for a second and looked at each other. 

"It's the engines," Carter declared. "It's bringing the engines online."

"Damn it!" Ford snapped. "Jackson take them to the bridge." 

"We need to disconnect the Naquadah generator," Carter declared.

"Take us," Ford ordered.


End file.
